A Subtle Love: Maiko Drabbles
by word of the wise
Summary: A love that develops slower than the others. A series of Maiko drabbles in the AU, out of the storyline, and in song and poetry fics. R&R Rated T for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1: Moon Roses

**Disclaimer: Do you REALLY THINK I own Avatar: The Last Airbender? Well, guess what? I DON'T, ok? I don't. I wish I did though :P. **

**A/N: I decided it's been way too long since my last fic, so I decided to do some drabbles that have been on my mind lately. Everything here will be Maiko Maiko Maiko, with some other pairings on the side. There will be AU, out of timelines, and maybe some instances involving cactus juice. And without further ado, I present, my first drabble!**

1: Moon Roses

Mai watched Zuko from across the crowded hall. Since he had returned to the fire nation recently, Mai had been able to watch him a lot. While they were traveling, she'd even worked up the nerve to have a conversation with him. It had been about what happened in Ba Sing Se. He had confined in her his secret worries about not being welcomed back. _He sure doesn't feel that way now,_ she speculated. He was chatting with some nobles, probably about his adventures or something. Mai sighed, and headed for the balcony nearby.

It was abandoned of all life, save for a few Moon roses growing on the sides of the palace. They only bloomed at night, and they were gorgeous. Mai couldn't help but think of the irony of having something that needed the moon growing on a place that was full of people who needed the sun. If Ty Lee had been there, she would have babbled on and on about how romantic it was, and how beautiful the flowers were. That was Ty Lee for you; always so perky and excited about everything.

Mai felt someone approach. She turned, and saw Zuko. She bowed respectfully. "My Prince." He nodded, and she stood back up. "Did you want something my lord?" _Argh! Don't sound rude!_ she thought to herself.

"I'm fine. Just a little…overwhelmed." He was looking at the flowers as well. She wondered if he found the irony in them as she had.

"I guess you don't have to worry about not being accepted back, huh?" He picked one of the flowers. It still glowed.

"I guess not. Thank you for listening to that by the way. I don't really have someone to tell things to anymore, you know?" He was twirling the flower between his fingers.

"I know." He had mentioned that as well; he still felt guilty about his Uncle. "Well, you could always talk to me…"

"I think I will." He smiled, and tucked the flower into her hair. She felt her cheeks go red hot. "Good night," he said, and went back inside. Mai stayed behind, gently touching the flower in her hair. Maybe it was nice to have these ironic flowers after all.


	2. Chapter 2: Nightmares

**A/N: Yay! My second drabble! Woohoo! This one's a little long, and I don't know if I love it, but in the end it isn't half bad. Hope you all enjoy! The next fic will explain why I rated this T.**

2: Nightmares

Zuko often had nightmares about the day he got his scar. The pain he had felt, the confusion, the overall loneliness that seemed to haunt him. But that was nothing in comparison to Mai's dreams about it.

It was always the same way. She found herself standing next to Azula in the audience of the sparring ring. She felt like she knew what was going to happen, like she could sense the impending doom, but she never knew what it was until it actually happened. She saw Zuko, a young Zuko, come onto the ring, ready to fight. The determined look on his face vanished when he saw his opponent. Mai's memory only allowed her to see the great silhouette of Fire Lord Ozai on that day, but she remembered his harsh, judging gaze as Zuko knelt down, saying he wouldn't fight his own father. Ozai's eyes had always been so intense, like they could burn right through you. And they were burning right through Zuko.

_Please, father, I only had the fire nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn! You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher…_the words echoed around the dream world. Ozai raised his fist, and Mai suddenly knew what was going to happen. She found herself screaming. A high, loud scream that no one but her seemed to hear. "Zuko! Look out!" she cried. "Get up!" But he didn't. He just let himself get hurt. Mai jumped down from the seats and ran forward. She saw Zuko grabbing his eye, in agony. In a flash it was the older Zuko, the Zuko from the present. He was in pain now, but he wouldn't let her near. Why should he? She was friends with Azula, and as she looked to where Ozai should have been, it was Azula and Ty Lee. "Come on, Mai. Come back to your place." She was suddenly there. She had hurt Zuko. "No…no I didn't…I love him…" she would whisper. Then she was falling, falling into a black pit, and she woke up.

Mai woke up gasping and crying. She hated that dream, no, that nightmare. It always got to her. Because every time she woke up, she knew she really hadn't done anything to help Zuko that day. She had just let it happen, and one day she probably would hurt him under Azula's orders. It made her feel weak and guilty. She took deep breaths and wiped the tears away. She closed her eyes, took one more deep breath, and felt calmer. She looked around, and remembered she was on the ship back home. She got out of bed and went on deck to get some fresh air.

It was a bit chilly on the deck. She went to the railing and smelled the sea air. It was refreshing, and it made her feel better. She noticed some soldiers walking around, keeping an eye out for danger. It wasn't really necessary; these were fire nation waters, but the fire lord would never let Azula travel unguarded. Especially now that Zuko was coming with them.

She saw Zuko on the other side of the ship. This was the third night in a row. She'd woken up to his footsteps for the past two nights; she was a light sleeper. Was something wrong? She walked over. "A bit late isn't it?"

Zuko turned around. He hadn't heard her coming. "Yeah, I guess it is."

She looked at him oddly. "Are you ok?"

He sighed. "I had a bad dream."

"So did I. What was yours about?"

He paused. "It was…it was about the day I got my scar. How about you?"

"Same here."

He turned to look at her quickly. "What?"

"My dream was about you getting your scar."

"Oh." He looked at his hands, obviously confused.

"In the dream I try to help you, but I can't. I just can't." Why was she telling him this?

"Oh." He was surprised.

She sighed. She didn't want to admit her feelings for him, not here, not this way. Not at all preferably. She hugged herself tightly. She wished she had thought to bring a blanket.

"You cold?" he asked. She nodded. "Here." He held her hands and bended heat into her body. She felt herself blush, both from the heat being bended into her body and the fact that Zuko was holding her hands. "Thanks," she said quietly. "No problem." He was staring at their hands, and hadn't let go yet. Mai felt her blush get worse. Half of her wanted to get away, but the other half was loving this.

"Mai?" She looked up. He was looking right into her eyes now. He was inching a forward, but stopped. He dropped her hands and turned away. "I'm sorry. I just…you're the only person who seems to want to help me anymore, you know? I don't know what came over me." He turned slightly, and she could see a blush on his cheeks.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "It's ok. I get it." He turned to face her now. He put his hand on her cheek. His eyes were asking her if this was ok. She put her hands on his shoulders, and put her head on his chest. He embraced her with his strong arms, and brought her face back up. He inched forward again, slowly, and kissed her gently. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. This one was deeper, more passionate. He put his hands on her lower back, and their kisses became hotter, stronger. They stayed close, feeling each others bodies with their hands. Finally, they slowly pulled away. "Meet me here tomorrow night?" she asked. He nodded. She slowly went back to her room, knowing that the nightmare wouldn't affect her as it once had.


	3. Chapter 3: Awkward

**A/N: And here we see why I rated this T! Shrugs Hey, I like reading this stuff way more than action scenes! (Action scenes are better IN THE SHOW, and this stuff…isn't '). So…yeah! Read and Review! Please. I'm begging here. Even if it's just u writing "I read it." I need SOME evidence here!**

3: Awkward

Zuko awoke slowly, feeling the presence of another in his bed. He opened his eyes and blinked in the sudden morning light. He saw next to him was Mai, asleep, facing the other direction, and covered by sheets. It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened. The memories came back slowly.

There had been a party last night. A big one. Every important noble in the nation had come, so of course Azula's friends would have to attend. He remembered Ty Lee dancing with all the boys, for some reason the boys liked her bubbly personality, and Mai just sat there alone. He had felt a bit of pity for her; she was a pretty girl, why wasn't she dancing. Oh, right. She would rather eat her own foot than dance with any of these jerks.

They really were jerks though. They thought they were better than everyone else just because their parents were in the fire lord's good graces. It was quite pathetic. What had he done now…? Oh right. He had saved her from some pompous boy who was asking her to dance. Actually, he might have saved that boy, since Mai looked like she was ready to kill him with her bare hands without even looking angry. He had stared the boy down, the boy had fled, and he had asked Mai to dance.

She hadn't been angry, just very surprised. But she had agreed, so they danced. And danced. And danced. It had felt like only one, but it must have been several songs before they stopped. Then they had served the wine. That would explain his pounding headache. He must have had at least three bottles on his own. But Mai had been drinking too. A lot more than him. The wine helped him get through the rest of the party, and then…then he had seen Mai on the balcony. It might have just been the wine, but she had seemed so _beautiful_…Everything was fuzzy then, he didn't remember if they talked or what, but soon they had been kissing, and they had ended up in his room. He didn't want to go into the details after that.

Mai stirred beside him, and turned to his direction. She was surprised to see him there, but she realized what had happened quickly. She blushed, and inched away a bit. It hadn't been the wine apparently; she really was beautiful. What were they going to do now? This was certainly awkward. Maybe Zuko was still a little drunk from the night before, maybe not, but either way he went over and kissed her. She was surprised, but she didn't pull away. She just went with the flow. Things from last night started to repeat themselves.

Things weren't so awkward after that.

**A/N: Teehee. Suggestive ending! ; ) Hope you all enjoyed it. Now, just go over to the right, that's it, and you see the button? The one next to "Submit Review"? Just hit that for me and tell me what you thought! Thanks a lot!**


	4. Chapter 4: Helping out

**A/N: This one is an AU, and this idea has been haunting me for a very long time. I like it well enough. Now I'm running out of ideas. Please give me some suggestions!**

4: Holiday Spirit

Mai was getting sick and tired of Zuko's attitude. It had been six years since his mother had left his father, and three years since he had gotten his scar in the fire. She didn't care what everyone else said; Zuko had had plenty of his "healing time" and he was going to get a piece of her mind.

Zuko and Azula's father was not a great guardian. He got drunk a lot, and often would beat Zuko, blaming him for their mother leaving. The fire had been in their house uptown, and Zuko had gotten burned trying to get out. It had been terrible, but afterwards Zuko had become much colder to the world. They had had to move into a tiny apartment, and Zuko had no room of his own. He had shaved his head except for his ponytail, and wore only black. He didn't care about grades anymore; he didn't care about ANYTHING anymore.

Everyone said, "Just leave him alone. He needs time to heal." Well, three years should have been enough. He was just getting worse anyway, not better. He was constantly in trouble, and he seemed to be on the edge of killing himself. Mai wouldn't let him throw his life away. After all, it was the last day before winter break. It was the time to help those in need.

She spotted him at the end of the hall, by his locker. He wasn't even bothering to take any books. She approached him, and leaned on the locker next to his until he noticed her. He looked up for about a second, and turned to leave. "You're not going anywhere until I talk to you," she said.

He glanced at her again. "What do you want Mai?" He seemed annoyed. Well, Mai was even more so.

"What's with you? Where'd this attitude come from? Why do you not care anymore?"

"What?" He seemed confused.

"For the past three years, you haven't given a crap about anyone or anything but yourself. You get into fights, you don't do your school work, and you only wear black-"

"So do you!" He was mad now.

"Yeah, but I wear it for fashion, not because I'm depressed or I pity myself. You need to get off your pity potty and be human again. This isn't you, Zuko."

"Oh yeah? How would you know?"

"I knew you before this all happened. I knew what a nice guy you were, how compassionate you could be. What happened to that Zuko? Where'd he go?"

"My dad-"

"You're dad has nothing to do with this! I know it's hard on you and Azula, and he hits you, but you could have gotten help from your Uncle. We all tried to help you, but you wouldn't let us. You chose to live with your dad. You chose to become this person!"

"You don't get me at all! My life SUCKS, ok? You don't have to live this way! You don't get it!"

Mai slapped Zuko hard across the face. "If I had your life, I would try to get better, not wallow in my misery and waste away like you. Or I would have the guts to actually kill myself, and not just threat to do it. Merry Christmas." Mai shoved her way by him, and went home. If he wanted to be miserable, he could be.

Over the break, Mai didn't see Azula or Zuko, or their uncle. She enjoyed her holidays somewhat, it was Tom Tom's first Christmas, and was looking forward to going to the movies on Saturday with Ty Lee and Azula.

When she arrived at the theater, she was surprised to see Zuko there. But it wasn't the Zuko she had left at his locker on the Friday of last week. This was a new Zuko. His ponytail was gone, and he wasn't dressed in all black. He had short stubble for hair now, and he wore jeans and a blue button down shirt. He seemed a little awkward, but not as dark as before.

"Hey!" Ty Lee had noticed Mai and gave her a hug.

"Hey Ty Lee! Hey Azula! Hey Zuko!" Mai smiled at them. "So, how was your Christmas?"

"Zuko's going to live with Uncle now," said Azula. "We had Christmas there. It was pretty cool. C'mon, let's get snacks." Ty Lee went with Azula to get the food. Mai went over to Zuko.

"So you're staying with your Uncle now?"

"Yeah. Listen, Mai, I wanted to thank you. Your talk with me helped me look at what I had become, and…I want to change."

Mai smiled. "Well, you have your sister, and you'll always have me to talk to."

Zuko smiled back. "Thanks. Let's get the tickets."

"Ok. Oh, and Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"You're hair looks way better this way."

Zuko laughed.

A/N: Zuko's hair does look ten times better in the second season than in the first one. I had to put that in. I think I may take the idea of the AU and make a new multi-chaptered one once I'm out of ideas. Which, by the way, I am. Please submit some ideas!!! And reviewing while you do it would be nice too!


	5. Chapter 5: Blind

**A/N: For shame me! You go MONTHS without an update, and NOW you decide to return to your story? Well, some people may not be so forgiving you know. I'm soooo sorry about not updating everyone!!!! I just had no ideas. At all. It's pathetic, actually. But I saw I got a review on the story either late yesterday or today when I was checking email, and I decided to write another one. So, here it is!**

5: Blind

That small girl who traveled with the Avatar was blind. She could somewhat see with her bending, but she was blind. And yet somehow she was less blind than Zuko.

How was it that Mai loved him for so long, but he was completely oblivious to it? It wasn't as if she was just some girl who he met occasionally at formal gatherings. She had played at the palace often; he knew who she was, and would speak to her at parties. It wasn't like she was completely invisible to him.

But that wasn't the problem now. The problem was, she was friends with Azula. And that's all she'd ever be. A friend of Azula who had tried to kill him. She didn't expect him to like her back, to ever return her feelings. But how could he not see?

They had gotten to be friends now that they were traveling home together. She felt like she could talk to him now. She had even gotten up the courage to hint around her feelings for him once.

"You've changed Mai," Zuko had said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. But in a good way. You've grown up. Become more…"

"Depressing?"

"I was going to say lady-like."

"I'm sure."

He laughed. "Have I changed?"

She thought for a minute. "You've become a bit colder to the world I think. You had to grow up so quickly on your travels. But otherwise you seem to be the same; awkward and unsure at times, short tempered, focused, strong-"

"Strong?"

"Yes. You always fight hard to get to your goals, and I think that makes you strong. May I finish?"

"Go ahead."

"And despite it all, you're still…you're still sweet."

"Sweet?"

"You actually care about other people. It's what I've always like about you."

"Thank you, Mai," he said, and left.

He hadn't even pursued the her liking him part. Or asked why she had so easily evaluated him. Or even thought that maybe her saying things like him being sweet and strong could be clues that she cared.

That little girl who traveled with the Avatar was blind. But even she could have seen through her hints better than Zuko did.


	6. Chapter 6: HideandSeek

**A/N: Yeah! Another chapter! Kimbalynn616 inspired this, since she gave me the idea, and I thank them!!! This story takes place when Zuko's ten and Mai's nine. I hope you enjoy it! Onto the story!**

6: Hide-and-Seek

It was a rainy day in the fire nation during the year Lord Azulon died, and Zuko was not in a good mood. Azula had dragged him into a game of hide-and-seek (again) and he couldn't figure out where to hide. Ty Lee was it, and she was fast, so he had to move.

The palace was huge, and had a million places to hide, but so many rooms were off-limits that it was hard to find a good spot anymore. Zuko saw a door up ahead. It didn't have the seal that showed you couldn't go into that room, so Zuko dived inside.

He found himself in a closet…with another person. "What are you doing in here? This is MY spot!" said a very squished Mai. Zuko quickly got up. In his hurry to get inside he had fallen on top of her.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I'll find somewhere else." 

"No!" Mai hissed. "It's ok; I was just a little upset that you crushed me. Plus if you leave now, Ty Lee will find us both!"

"Ok," he whispered. The closet was full of cleaning supplies, so it was cramped, dark, and smelled funny. They kept quiet for a while, until they heard footsteps outside the door.

Out of instinct Zuko reached for something to fend Ty Lee off with. As long as she didn't tag him, he could still get to base and be safe. What he grabbed was Mai's hand.

They both looked down at their hands, but neither let go. Before either had time to react, the door opened, and they both turned to see Ty Lee standing outside the door with a huge grin on her face.

"Found you!!!" she cried happily. She looked at them. "Well aren't you going to run…?" She saw Zuko still holding Mai's hand. "OH MY GOSH!!!! You're holding hands!!! AND you're blushing!!!!!" Ty Lee spun around excitedly and tagged them both. "You're BOTH it. You'll have to find Azula and me as a team. Now go count to twenty!" Ty Lee ran off.

Zuko blinked, and finally let go of Mai's hand. She was blushing madly. "Let's go count," he mumbled. Mai nodded, and followed him to a corner to start counting. Little did either realize that years later that closet would become a great place to go off to when nobles would come looking for them in the court version of hide-and-seek. Plus it was a good place if they wanted some "privacy."


End file.
